“Have you a situation, at present?”
“I have not, sir.”
“How long have you been idle?”
“Since the 31st of July, sir.”
“Prior to that date where were you employed?”
“In the family of Mr. Peixada, sir.”
“Were you present at Mr. Peixada’s house on the night of July 30th?”
“I was not, sir.”
“Tell us, please, how you came to be absent?”
“Well, sir, just after dinner, along about seven o’clock, Mrs. Peixada, who was laying abed with a sore foot, she called me to her, sir, and, ’Ann,’ says she, ’you can have the evening out, and you needn’t come home till to-morrow morning,’ sir, says she.”